What?!?!?!?!

I was over at a friends house last night enjoying some good food (BBQ) and good conversation. As we were sitting around I watched a guy ride his bike past us and all focus on our conversation was lost. Did I really just see a guy riding his bike down the street holding a ceiling fan? Yes, yes I did. That sure made me giggle.

Playing In The Rain

The kids wanted to play outside this afternoon. A little bit after they went out it started to rain. Imagine their surprise when I told them they could stay out and get as wet as they wanted. Watching kids laugh and run and yell, "You're it!" while getting rained on is fun. Laying on the ground and having it rain on your face while laughing with little girls is even funner.

Field Day

Isn't it great that those wonderful teachers spend the last day of school squeezing every bit of energy out of the kids? It makes the transition into summer so much more peaceful.

Getting Excited

I love that my kids get excited when they see a cool bird. It's a hobby that my husband has loved since he was a child. Bird watching kind of got pushed to the back burner for him for many years, but when he started pursuing this hobby again he quickly got me and the kids excited about it. There are days when we can't convince them to get out of bed to go look at birds, but most of the time they at least show interest. Today was a little different. I was driving them home from school when Hollee said, "Mommy, look at that bird!" I pulled over and pulled out the binoculars and we had a good look. Luckily we had the camera with us too so I was able to get a few shots of it. They weren't very good given the height he was sitting at, but we have them. We had NO clue what he could be so we drove two more blocks to home and grabbed the bird book. We turned around to go get a second look and got there just in time to see him in flight which is also good for identifying a bird. We looked through the book and I kept going back to the same bird, but was sure that nothing that exotic was here in Utah. We came home, did a little bit of research and yep, I was right, it's a Double-Crested Cormorant. The best part of all this? As I'm sitting here typing, Hollee is in her room reading up on the bird. And the others are chatting about it, holding the yard stick to see how big he was and generally just being excited. It's nice to get the kids interested in something besides all the usual stuff. It's even nicer when we get to do those things as a family, I just wish that Timm could have seen the bird. We'll go out tonight and check the area and hopefully have another sighting.

Kindergarten Teachers

Sometimes I feel so bad for Kindergarten teachers, they get these tiny little kids in their class. Kids that are little enough to still say "I love you" to a teacher, kids that are still little enough to cry when they get hurt and run to their teachers for hugs, kids that are little enough to still say they have a tummy ache. Then, after we give them these little kids and they teach them and care for them and fall in love with them, we not only take them away for the summer, but we make them have a ceremony. Being a teacher and sending the kids out the door with a "See you next year!" would be hard enough, but to have a whole graduation ceremony and have singing and speeches? I haven't been to one yet where the teacher didn't cry. Thanks to all the teachers, especially the ones who take time to form bonds with our kids!

Rewards

I walked a group of kids from the school to the theater this morning. It was one of the end of school reward days. 183 kids got to leave school and go watch Shrek 4. The school has also had a dance and a Lagoon day. All for the kids who have not received any detentions. Do you remember the time when you would be rewarded for good behavior? I don't mean all of these little blessings in disguise we get for being good people, I mean flat out rewards for being good. How fun would that be to get rewards for being nice? Like a certificate for not being late to anything for a whole month (we all know how hard it is to get the family ready and out the door on time), or a free ice cream for being the friend with the shoulder that gets cried on, or a round of applause for not losing your cool when the third cup of juice gets spilled at dinner. How cool would that be? Anyway, back to the real world. I am glad that these kids get recognized for good behavior. Too many times we overlook the good and focus on the bad. These kids need this recognition too, out of the five kids I walked over I think only one of them knew how to walk with her head up and I happen to know that this little girl had to work hard to get like that. These teenagers and preteens are at a point in their life when it feels like it's them against the world and they could use all the confidence boosters they can get. So go write somebody a note, take somebody to get some ice cream, or just give them a hug and tell them how good they are.

Here are my virtual hugs to the people who have been especially good to me lately.....

(((((((((((Timm)))))))))) ((((((((((Gabrielle)))))))))) ((((((((((Lorelei)))))))))) ((((((((((Jessica)))))))))) ((((((((((Alex)))))))))) ((((((((((Angie))))))))))

((((((((((Hollee)))))))))) ((((((((((Alison)))))))))) ((((((((((Eli))))))))))

((((((((((Andrew)))))))))) ((((((((((Jackson)))))))))) ((((((((((Darlene))))))))))

((((((((((Anybody who takes the time to read my blog, I love you!))))))))))

PUDDING!

Jack woke up yesterday after coming home from the dentist. He walked over to the fridge and managed to get there with out falling over (he was very wobbly from the anesthesia). He opened the fridge, looked inside and said, "Aw! No pudding?" Luckily we had anticipated this and Timm was at the store picking some up at that very moment.